


big ear, 1989

by yerm



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Fluff, M/M, Magical Realism, Romance, Translation, lapslock, the ethereal beauty of a fallen star being close to you
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-18
Updated: 2020-03-18
Packaged: 2021-03-01 04:47:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,285
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23199646
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yerm/pseuds/yerm
Summary: "let's listen to the sky," his index finger pokes at some dusty cluster of cold blue, "there's a concert about to start on the constellation auriga."donghyuck's eyes, so deep and glinting no worse than a neon sickle moon, are glued to space.mark's eyes, sparkling and looking like chestnuts that were in a puddle for a long time, are glued only to donghyuck.
Relationships: Lee Donghyuck | Haechan/Mark Lee
Comments: 4
Kudos: 10





	big ear, 1989

**Author's Note:**

  * A translation of [кинозал](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/568993) by monstrum. 



> _  
> ["many miracles happen up in the sky!"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1EPhsuu-ZQ&t=177s)  
>  _
> 
> this work is a part of the "cinema hall" series, which is a series of drabbles that are based on russian cinema (currently there are three works: "the student" 2016, "big ear" 1989 and "leto" 2018). and let me tell you, this idea is incredible! it's not necessary, but i recommend watching the cartoon "big ear" (which i linked up there) before reading this fic - i think this way you'll enjoy it even more
> 
> original work on [ficbook](https://ficbook.net/readfic/7808387/20339924#part_content) and author's [twt](https://twitter.com/sailorstay)

donghyuck - motley, like summer, and sonorous, like a flute, - sits on a wet tree that'd fallen down about five years ago because of a lightning strike, and waves his callused burnt hand, calls to sit next to him. he appeared out of nowhere, in a millisecond, and already turned everything upside down, changed it.

mark shifts from foot to foot and feels awkward and small, although he's a head taller than donghyuck, and his shoulders are broader, and even his legs - firmly stand on the ground, unlike donghyuck, who's jumping and jumping. though maybe, exactly this ground, so dirty and ignoble, makes mark so awkward and small, and donghyuck's jumps only make him higher, him, donghyuck, who is a star.

"let's listen to the sky," donghyuck's voice is completely serious, he fixes his artsy beach hat, straws crunching.

"i can't," mark rudely sniffs, but sits down anyway, brows wrinkled together in shame.

"what a big deal," his index finger pokes at some dusty cluster of cold blue, "there's a concert about to start on the constellation auriga."

donghyuck's eyes, so deep and glinting no worse than a neon sickle moon, are glued to space.

mark's eyes, sparkling and looking like chestnuts that were in a puddle for a long time, are glued only to donghyuck.

"do you hear?" donghyuck smiles and mark swears that he hears this smile, it's closer and way simpler than the sky, and pulls to itself ten times stronger.

"what?" mark whispers. "what do i have to hear?"

donghyuck scrambles in laughter, slowly gets up, still looking at the round play with which the stars are intertwined right above his head. he wants the eastern wind to pick him up to these stars again as if he was a star of _their_ kind and not his own. at first, mark just observes, and there's a weird jingle, a rattle in his ears, like a bad phone connection dividing him and donghyuck.

suddenly a soft honey voice breaks through the noises: donghyuck dances a little, trampling down the grass under, and visibly tries to sing along to what he hears from his concert on the constellation auriga's arena, but ends up with his own special song, not similar to anything else. neither in this world nor in any other.

mark bites his lip so that he could hide the smile that's threatening to keep growing on his face until the very sunrise, so that the stars could disappear and donghyuck, contrary to them, could stay, kiss mark's broken knuckles and cook rice cakes with cherry jam for lunch.

mark's head is spinning from the august midnight breath and water that's dripping somewhere far away. weird. he hears the drops of water but doesn't hear the stars. are they really that far?

"do you hear?" mark frowns. "how water drops?"

donghyuck turns to him reluctantly, still nodding in sync with the weird space music, so unreachable for mark. "huh?"

sometimes so happens that people can understand something that's not given to everyone, but something simple like a handful of coins - no, they won't understand it even in a million years. and mark smiles ruefully at this thought, examining donghyuck's face.

"nothing," nevertheless, he gets up from his seat. "it seems like someone didn't turn off the faucet in the garden, now there's water..."

donghyuck turns back to the sky, immediately losing ties with their conversation, he thinks that mark is _empty_ as if there are no stars under his skin at all, and he, on top of his lungs, sings along to all that's long time jaded, nothing close to everything wonderful in the space, «lalala».

"...dripping."

mark walks out the forest down a wide path and finds himself in a garden, smelling and blooming especially freshly this night. turns to donghyuck. yes. this night, this starry, starry night, everything around him is so special.

"maybe, it's people always making everything special," mark conclusions, turning off the faucet.

he hears a faint crying meow - a kitten got stuck in prickly pink bushes - and decides that his hands, rough and blood strained, better sweat it.

"look at this!" thin, gray, with big blue eyes, donghyuck doesn't like this creature at all and when he looks up at mark to tell him exactly this, he suddenly freezes.

_mark's eyes hold many more stars than the sky._

"what's wrong?" mark's smile almost slides down, slips, flies away.

donghyuck holds out his strong tan hands, and mark carefully puts the intruder of the night peace in a mole scattered palm. donghyuck gently strokes the kitten between his ears with his thumb, and it's so warm inside of him that all the cosmic music that was humoring him before is no longer needed. it's not as touching.

"what is the name of this?"

mark laughs, "it's a cat. a kitten, this tiny. did you fall from the moon or something?"

"from the sun," donghyuck retorts with no trace of a smile. " _you_ look more like a moon resident."

content, donghyuck strokes the kitten - getting bolder, it falls asleep right on his palm - and turns to mark. "what is this sound?" the kitten purrs softly, and mark laughs again. "he's better," a nod skyward, "than the constellation of auriga's concert."

"i wouldn't know," mark shrugs, "i didn't hear it, but you know better," mark would love to sleep too, he yawns sweetly, shakes his head as to try to ward off some charm.

"go to sleep," donghyuck nods. "i will look after everything here. both the dripping water, and the lost kitten."

mark nods, trusting, and he already pads in the direction of a guest house, when the sound of donghyuck's sneakers' rubber sole catches up to him. he loudly kisses mark on the lips and retreats back to the fallen tree, on which the kitten curled up in a ball, calmer than ever.

mark stares in awe - now out the hotel bedroom's window - at donghyuck, who looks up not to gaze at the sky, and not to listen to it, because he joyfully waves his hand at mark and soundlessly tells him goodnight, and the other really sleeps well, not taking away his fingers that smell of soap from his lips that burn with the kiss, while donghyuck slowly takes his hat off and barely can sit still.

he has so much to say, to do and to sing, but he knows that now he'll find time for everything. even on such an empty and boring planet, where, as it seems, no one speaks, does and sings. sunrise begins with a cock's cry, the sound of someone's first alarm clock and a hungry cat's squeak. donghyuck looks at the orange sun disk, thinks about eastern wind, about his home, about mark.

donghyuck fights the urge to run and wake mark up with a kiss on his chopped, broken, rough knuckles, and prepare rice cakes with cherry jam for lunch, give some warm milk to the kitten, and examine each and every flower in the garden, and run away to a wide river with mark in tow, and lose his favorite hat in a humid cornfield so that later he'd spend hours looking for it and end up just buying a new one, better than the previous, and play in the shooting range, and try a can of orange soda, and listen to all the vinyl records from the outskirts' store, and read all of mark's favorite books, and walk through the entire globe, because there is probably more beauty on it, this globe, than in the whole space.

it's enough to simply _look_ after this beauty.

"i will try my very best to look after everything," whispers donghyuck.

**Author's Note:**

> i love this work so much! when reading it, i kept thinking of a very important person to me, my friend dani. she always cheers me up on whatever i'm doing or saying and i'm (holds her on my palm like a potato) so glad to know such a colorful person as her. dani!! ya tebya lublu vooot stolko!!!
> 
> i hope you enjoyed reading, have a nice day! (🌼❛ ֊ ❛„) 
> 
> come look at my [twitter](https://twitter.com/beargihugs) i want applause for talking about basic things


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